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Glenn Younes: Art Modell – Philanthropist, TV Titan, NFL Owner

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 14: Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell (L) is given the Lamar Hunt Trophy from the San Diego Chargers' owner Alex Spanos (R) after the AFC Champioship Playoff game against the Oakland Raiders 14 January 2001 at the Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland, CA. The Ravens won the game 16-3 and will take on the NFC Champion New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa Florida on 28 January 2001. (Photo credit: JOHN MABANGLO/AFP/Getty Images)

(Photo credit: JOHN MABANGLO/AFP/Getty Images)

I’m not the best person in the world to go on and on about Art Modell but I am and have always been intrigued by the business mind that Mr. Modell was. The NFL as we know it today is predicated on the vast amounts of viewers and money generated by television. That TV money, in very large part, can be traced back to Art who had the vision of prime time TV and even offered his Cleveland Browns to both MNF and the Thanksgiving games.

He was also part of ownership that welcomed and encouraged revenue sharing from the vast TV dollars, so as to eliminate the haves and have nots due to market size. Art Modell by any account was a visionary and the reason the NFL is a 10 Billion dollar a year revenue generating monster. His mind will be missed, as will his heart. Modell was a great philanthropist, not because he had the money but because he had the heart. Here in Baltimore the list of his works is too long to go over but one that hits home to me is the donation of land and money for the campus of the Seed School Baltimore, a charter boarding school for children in need of a proper living and educational environment.

The Seed School provides a step stool in life to young children who otherwise would not have a chance to take steps forward. Art Modell was a great man in many way, owner of the Browns and then the Ravens, it was just a very small part of who he was. Art Modell gone after 87 years, he made the most of his time.